THE UNIONIST ATTACK ON MR. HORACE PLUNKETT.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—It seems strange that neither in your editorial note in the Spectator of September 15th, nor in Lord Monteagle's letter printed in your number of September 22nd, have the main grounds of objection to the appointment of Mr. Gill as the highest permanent official in the Irish Agricultural Board been mentioned or alluded to. As far as I am aware, no objection has ever been raised on the ground that Mr. Gill is a Roman Catholic. Certainly such an objection has been disavowed by Lord Ardilaun, by Mr. Ball, and by the Con- servative working men of Dublin. The objections chiefly insisted on are two. First, that in contravention of a pledge given by Mr. Gerald Balfour in the House of Commons, a Secretary was appointed who possesses no special or expert knowledge of agriculture. The fact that Mr. Gill possesses no such knowledge has been publicly admitted by Mr. Horace Plunkett. Secondly, it is objected that Mr. Gill was a promi- nent organiser in the "Plan of Campaign," a criminal con- spiracy described by Mr. Chamberlain as "the most immoral and dishonest conspiracy which has ever been devised in a civilised country," and that up to the data of his appointment he had never expressed regret for his part in a system of violent injustice and fraud.—I am, Sir, &c., HiglIfield House, Co. Dublin. EDWARD DOWDEN.
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